Body for cars



4 Sheets-Sheet 1 R. S. HUMBURCH BODY FOR CARS Filed Oct. 5, 1932 Feb. 15, 1938o A TORNEY Feb. 15, m38. R. s. HUMBURCH BODY FOR CARS 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 5, 1932 VENTOR TTGRNEY R. s. HUMBURCH BODY FOR CARS Feb. 15, 1938.

Filed Oct. 5, 1932 @ci I AT ORNEY R. S. HUMBURCH BODY FOR cAR's Feb. 15, 1938.

Filed OCT'. 5, 1932 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR TTORNEY Patented Feb. 15, 193sA 7 Claims.

. The object of this-invention is to provide a new and improved body for an automobile truck or a railroad car.

Another'object. of the invention is to provide new and improved Ventilating apparatus for such a body.

VAnother object of the invention is to provide a construction for the car body which readily permits the removal of a side, or the roof; of the i0 mr.

Another object of the invention is to provide a metal iioor for the car attached to the underirame in a way that makes it unnecessary to put holes in the metal iioor. These and other objects of the invention will be illustrated in the drawings, described in the specification, and pointed out in the claims at the end thereof.

In the drawings:

` Figure 1 is a sectional elevation, partly broken away, showing one end of the car viewed from the interior.v

Figure 2 is a vertical section through the end of the car showingthe ice bunker, the section being partly broken vaway and being taken on the lineZx--Ex of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a' horizontal section on the line 3ra-3a: of Figure 2. t y

Figure 4 is a vertical transverse section, partly o broken away, through the oor, side and roof of the car.

Figure 5 is a horizontal section on the lineA tan-5x of Figure ,4.

" Figure 61s a longitudinal section through the car showing the scheme of ventilation diagrammatically.

Figure '7 is a horizontal section through the side of the car, pai'tly broken away, the section being taken on the line im-'ix of Figure 4.

40. Figure 8 is a vertical section through the roof ofthe car, the section being partly broken away and taken on the line drs-ta: of Figure 4.

Figure 9 is a horizontal section through the end of the car, the section being partly broken away and taken on the line Saz-9x of Figure 2.

In the drawings like reference numerals indicate like parts.

The invention las shown here is applied to an automobile trailer truck used as a refrigerator car. and is also intended to be applied to refrigerator cars such as are ordinarily used in railroad transportation.

In the drawingsrefe'rence numeral i indicates the car body having a metal floor 2 supported on V wooden strlngers t which run the length of the iloor; or the length of the car body. Interposed between the floor and the wooden stringers are the channels i, which are electrically welded to the bottom of the floor. These channels are about six inches lcng,-and are spaced apart about 5 three feet between centers. Below the stringers 3 is placed the metal sub-oor 5, and below the lmetal floor is placed a series of oross-chanels t, which are spaced about two feet between centers. These channels run clear across the car body/,and l0 in turn rest upon the I-beams l, l which constitutes the frame that supports the car body.

The space between the metal floor 2 and the sub-floor 5 is iilled with strips of cork insulation 8, which strips are cut to t between wooden l5 stringers 3. Each of the channels t is perforated to receive a bolt il, which runs `lriorizontally through the channel t and the stringer 3 and fastens these two parts rmly together. The stringer 3 is cut away to form a pocket as indi- 20 cated at ill, which pocket received the head of the bolt i i. This bolt passes through the stringer and through the sub-floor 5 and through the iiange of one of the cross-channels, and is fastened in place by the nut i2 and washer i3. This 25 bolt iirmly ties -the Stringer and the sub-floor and the cross-channel together. The pocket i@ is deep enough so that the head of the bolt will not make contact with the channel t, and in this way heat leakage through the metal iioor 2, the channel 4, and the bolt il is prevented. It will also-be understood that the channel t is insulated from the metal sub-floor 5 by the wooden Stringer 3.

On each side of the car resting on the sub- 35 flcor 5a is provided a Wooden nailing strip i5 which runs the length of the car except where it is broken by the upright` angles i6 and il, which are shown in horizontal section in Figure 7 and in dotted lines in Figure 4. These, uprights 40 are riveted tothe ends of the cross channels t, as are indicated by the rivets it and i9 vin dotted Llines which pertainto the uprights it, and the rivets 2U and 2i which pertain to the uprights il.

The inside sheet 22 of the car is riveted to the 45 angles ii, 'and the outside sheet 23 is riveted to the angles it. Between the sheets 22 and. 23 a space is provided which is lled with a con-l tinuous layer of insulating material 2i, which runs the length of the car body. This insulating 50 material is contained in a bag which is bent to the shape shown in Figure 4. It is held in place at the bottom by a nailing strip 25, and is held' in place at the top by a 'nailing strip 2t. The insulating material preferred is the so-called 55 refrigerator car construction. The nailing strip 25 is nailed to the nailing strip I5, and the nailing strip 26 is nailed to the wooden top side plate 21 shown at the upper left hand corner of Figure 4.

As shown at the lower left hand corner of Figure 4, an angle 30 is provided which runs the length of the car and is the bottom side sill of the car. 'I'he upright angles I6 are offset at the bottom, as indicated in Figure 4, and are fastened to the upright member of the metal angle 30. The upright member I1 is riveted directly to the web of the channel 6.

The nailing strip I5 is fastened by a bolt 3l, which passes through the nailing strip, and through the sub-floor 5a, and the upper flange of the channel 6 and is clamped in place by the washer 33 and the nut 32. 'I'he strip is cut away to form an airpocket as indicated at 35, which pocket receives the head of the bolt 3|.

On the outside of the car at the bottom is riveted the rub rail 34, which is U-shaped.

'I'he outside plate 23 is fastened to the top side plate 21 by a bolt 35a, and the inside plate 22 is fastened to the side plate 21 by the bolt 36. The

,side plate is cut away to form air pockets in which the heads of each of these bolts are received. The bolt 36 passes through the reinforcing angle 31, which runs the length of the car on the inside at the top. The upper ends of the angles I6 and I1 are cut away on a taper, as shown in dotted lines, and these ends nest into tapered pockets which are cut into the wooden top side plate 21. As these angles I6 and I1 are riveted to the side sheets 22 and 23, it will be seen that the side sheets, and the upright angles I6 and I1, and the top side plate 21, and the cross channel 6, and the metal angle 30 are all securely tied together.

On the outside at the top, an angle 38 is riveted, the upper flange of which slopes down and out. This angle runs thelength of the car and the ends thereof extend half way around the, ends of the car. The ends of the two a'ngles are vwelded together and the angles thus form a rectangular frame that encircles the car. On top of the angles 31 and 38, and the wooden top side plate 21 is supported the roof of the car, which is made up as follows.

A top roof plate 40 is provided, which extends the full length of the car and the full widthof the car, and the sides of which are bent down on a curve as indicated at 4I. To the .bottom .edges of the roof on the outside are riveted the angles 42, which run the full length of the car and half way around the end of the car.l The two angles 42 are welded together at the ends, so that the two angles make a rectangular frame which encircles the car.

The ends of the top roof plate are bent down on the samecurve as indicated at 4I, and to make a rounded corner each corner is cut away with a V-shaped notch and the end and side edges after being bent to shape are suitably welded together along the edges of the notches, one notch being cut in each corner to make the four rounded corners on the roof.

The inside, sheet 22 of the car is reinforced by' the horizontal stiifeners 46, which are made of fDry Zero material which is commonly used in The inside sheets can, therefore, resist any hammering effect due to the shifting of the load inside of the car.

A ceiling plate l43 is provided which runs the length of the car, and the side edges of which are fastened to the angle 31. On top of the ceiling plate 43 are the cross angles or carline 44 and 45, the even numbers of which are fastened to the angles 31 and ceiling 43, and the odd numbers of which are fastened to the roof 40 of the car, and the ends of them are cut away and are bent down and are fastened to the angle 42.

On the inside of the car at the end is placed the ice bunker 50, which is provided with one or more frames of grate bars 5I, by which the ice is held in the bottom of the bunker. A sheet metal yplate 52, preferably of galvanized iron, encircles three of the upright sides of the bunker. The fourth side is enclosed by the wire netting 53.

For -the purpose of regulating the circulation of air inside the car, I provide as follows:-

As shown in Fig. 6, the air is taken in at the forward end of the car thru a ventilator 60, and if the outside air is warm this air must pass down thru the ice bunker 5U, and at the bottom of the bunker is driven out thru the car by an electric fan 6I. If it is desired to change the air, for any reason, the air can pass out thru the ventilator 62 in the roof of the car at the tail end. At the top of the ice bunker on the inside of the car, I provide a damper or valve 63, which consists of a stationary plate 64 having a series of oblong holes therein and a sliding plate 65 having a similar series of holes therein. This sliding plate 65 slides in guides 66 and 61 and this plate can be moved so as to bring the holes therein into register with the holes in the stationary plate 64, in which case the air will pass thru the damper or the plate can be moved so as to put the holes in the two plates out of register with each other in which case the passage of air, therethru, will be prevented. If the damper is closed then the airI will pass as indicated in Fig. 6. If the damper 65 is open, the ventilators 60 and 62 will be closed and the fan will then circulate the air along the bottom of the car drawing the air down thru the ice bunker causing the warm air to rise and pass to the ice bunker which it enters at the top thru the damper. 'I'his assumes that the bunker is full of Aice and that the car is being i used in warm weather to keep the perishable contents thereof under refrigeration. A bolt 15 is provided by which the sliding plate 65 is moved or clamped in place.

If the car is used in cold weather ice will be e omitted from the bunker and at such time it will be necessary to artificially heat the inside of the vcar so to keep the perishable products thereof from freezing. For this purpose, I provide a heating apparatus 10, under the grate bars of the ice bunker. This may be of any suitable type but I prefer the so-called Tropic-Air heater, which is a standard make and is regularly used for heating automobiles. This heater gets its heat from the hot water' that is circulated from the engine jacket and is used to heat the inside of the car. I may also use a so-called charcoal heater instead of ythe hot water radiator heated from the engine jacket, or the car may be heated by the exhaust from the engine. In either case, the hot air will be blown out by the electric fan 6I to the bottom. of the car and the cold air will descend to the ice bunker in which there will be no ice. It will be understood that the heating Cil arcate@ effect will be suiicient to keep the contents ofthe car from freezing by a small margin.

I have found that by the forced circulation either when the car is under refrigeration or is being artificially heated, the diierence between the temperature of the floor and ceiling of the car is kept within a very few degrees.

It will also be understood that the floor and sides of the car are water tight so that water cannot leak thru them into the insulating material and when the car is unloaded it can be washed out and cleaned very effectively so that the nextload that is placed in the car will not be contaminated in any way by anyodor or waste left in the car by the previous load.

It will be understood that all or nearly all the metal parts above described will be made of aluminum for the purpose of reducing the weight of the car body and for the purpose of avoiding rust. This includes such parts as the cross channels, the subiioor and the top floor, vthe channels on top of the stringers, the inside and outside wall plates or sheets, and the ceiling car, angles, etc.

I'claim: 1. In a car the combination of a iloor, cross channels under the iloor; upright angles fastened and roof of the to said cross channels, and inside and outside wall` numbered angles being'staggered or offset rela` tive to the even numbered angles.

2. In a. car the, combination of a floor, cross channels under the door, upright angles fastened to "said cross channels, inside and outside wall plates fastened to said upright angles, the oddl numbered angles being fastened'to the inside wall member and the even numbered angles being fastened to the outside wall member; each angle being separated fromv the' opposite wall memberv by an air space, and wooden strips running lengthwise of the car at the top and bottom of the wall and between the wall members, said strips i being recessed to receive the angles, means for supporting the inner and outer side wall plates against movement to and from one another the upright angles` being longitudinally spaced by the channels, the odd numbered angles being `staggered or offset relative to the even numbered angles.

3. In a car the combination of a door, cross channels under the floor, upright angles fastened to said cross channels. inside and outside wall plates fastened to Said upright angles, the odd other.

numbered angles being fastened to the inside wall member and the even numbered angles being fastened to the outside wall member, each angle being separated from the opposite wall member by an air space, wooden strips running lengthwise of the car at the top and bottom of the wall and between the wallmembers, said strips being recessed to receive the angles, and nailing strips running parallel to the Wooden strips between' which nailing strips and the wooden strips the heat insulating material is held in place means for supporting the inner and outer side wall plates against movement to and from one another thel upright angles being longitudinally spaced by the channels, the odd numbered 4angles being staggered or oset relative to the even numbered angles.

4. In a car the combination of a floor, cross channels under the floor, upright angles fastened -upper strip serving to hold the wall members l apart the upright angles being longitudinally Vspaced by the channels, the odd numbered angles being staggeredfor offset relative to the even numbered angles.

5.- In the side wall of a car the combination of a wooden top side plate, an inside. metal plate and an outside metal plate, and bolts for fastening said metal plates to the top side plate, each of said bolts fastening but one metal plate to the top side plate andA being insulated from the other metal plate said bolts being parallel to each 6. In the side wall of a car the combination of inside and outside wall plates, upright angles fastened to said wall plates, the odd numbered angles being fastened to said inside wall plate and the even numbered angles being fastened to the outside wall plates each angle being separated from the opposite wall member by an air space, andV Wooden strips running lengthwise of the car at the top and bottom of the wall, s aid strips being recessed to receive the upright angles and hold them apart from each other and from the plate opposite thereto.

'7. In a car the combination of a roof and a side wall for supporting the roof, said side wall having a wooden side'plate at the top thereof, av 

